San Antonio city councilmembers pushing for more say in mayor-appointed boards
SAN ANTONIO — While the San Antonio City Council makes many decisions, there are some specifics that are left to the mayor.
"Oftentimes there are boards and commissions in which city council does not have discretion and or discussion on who gets appointed to those boards and commissions," said Teri Castillo, councilmember for District 5. "Those boards and commissions have a huge impact on the city of San Antonio and its residents. This is our public utility, this is our water, this is our housing stock."
A few examples of the boards the mayor appoints include SAWS, CPS Energy, VIA and the Charter Review Commission. While city council get the final approval on the board members, Castillo argues its not enough involvement.
"Yes, we do have an opportunity to pool and debate the merits of the applicant, but I believe that there is opportunity for there to be a process in place to where it's not the day of where we're discussing an individual's qualifications on the dais," she said.
It's why she submitted a City Council Consideration Request (CCR) to make that change happen. On Wednesday, the CCR was taken up by the Governance Committee. The senior members of city council and the mayor also sit on this committee. They decide the future of proposals submitted by city councilmembers that could become law.
"To me, the governance committee, other than myself yesterday, said that it was not important that we have that discussion with the council," said Melissa Cabello Havrda, councilmember for district 6. "They want to take it to a committee that's going to be a only have certain members, maybe some councilmembers, and they kind of quietly do what they want to do with board appointments."
Castillo, Cabello Havrda, and Marc Whyte, councilman for district 10, signed onto a memo obtained by KENS 5, calling for a full, public council discussion.
"I think it's not appropriate for all the power to appoint on some of these boards and commissions to be in the hands of the mayor," Whyte said. "It's not right. It's our job to make sure that our particular district's interests are represented. And so that's why we need to relook at how the people on these boards and commissions are appointed so that our communities, our districts interests are best represented."
In less than a year, the city of San Antonio will elect its new mayor. Mayor Ron Nirenberg did tell KENS 5 he would call a discussion at some point.
"If there was a concern about how we operated, I think they would have done something sooner than the last 200 days of my last term," Mayor Nirenberg said. "I understand the desire to have input in in the process. And so, you know, again, I think as we move to the next administration, they want to consider how the council should operate under the next term. "
Castillo believes without a say on whose appointed, councilmembers don't have a voice.
"I think it's about setting expectations for the new mayoral administration that's coming in to have an opportunity to look at some pluses and minuses of the process," she said. "We need to sit together as a council and talk about what are the qualifications of the individuals looking at the books, making these decisions, because this impacts the entire city of San Antonio and we were each elected to represent and advocate for the best interests of our constituency."
